"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith."

It's human nature to pursue our own race with perfection. We face enormous pressure to do what everyone else is doing by trying to please everyone and meet all their expectations. Yet, if we're not careful, our lives can become a blur with a series of blinding curves filled with anxiety, depression, and stress.

In our hearts we know that God has an individual plan for each of us. Just because something works for someone else doesn't necessarily mean it will work for us. If you make the mistake of trying to compare yourself to other people, you'll become frustrated wasting a lot of time on negative energy. Worse yet, we may miss the good things God has in store for us.

But here's the good news: You can run your own race and God will be pleased. God has given you the grace to do what he's called you to do. He has not given you the grace to do what everybody else is doing. The Scripture teaches, "Let each one examine his own work." (Galatians 6:4) Which means you take care of you; quit looking at what everyone else is doing and run your own race. If you are the best that you can be then you can feel good about yourself, regardless of whether you come in first or last.

Did you know

We most often compare the wrong things. Because we can most easily compare the things that we can objectively measure, we live in a world that is great at measuring and comparing externals. Somewhere along the way, we decided that we could determine who is living a more valuable life by comparing clothes, cars, homes, paychecks, beauty, or Twitter followers. But externals are rarely a good measure.

We always compare our worst with their best. Comparing your life with others is always a losing proposition because there will always be people who “appear” to be better off than you and seemingly live the perfect life. After all, we always compare the worst of what we know about ourselves to the best assumptions that we make about others. Be advised, their life is never as perfect as your mind makes it out to be.

There is no end to the comparison game. There is an infinite number of categories upon which you can compare yourself… and an almost infinite number of people to compare yourself to. Once you start down that road, you will never, ever find an end.

Life isn’t graded on a curve. How you measure up against others holds absolutely no importance in your life anyway. It simply makes no difference. The goal of life is not to be better than 50% of the other people on the planet. The goal of life is to be the best you that you can possibly be.

Comparison puts your focus on the wrong person. You can control one life – yours. When we consistently compare ourselves to others, we waste precious energy focusing on other peoples’ lives rather than our own.

Comparison robs you of joy. Comparing yourself to others will always cause you to regret what you aren’t, rather than allow you to enjoy who you are. It will always steal the joy and happiness that is within your reach… and place it just outside of your reach instead.

So when ever your mind begins the comparison race, stop those thoughts and go inwards. Look at yourself from yesterday and see what improvements have been made since. Don't let those attack thoughts ruin your day!

Meditation of the week:

Lord, I am concerned about ___________. What frustrates me most about that is ___________ will happen. I know these thoughts are an attack from my own ego. I pray for your peace of mind instead.

Do this with every comparison thought that comes this week. Make sure you add at least 4-6 things that you are afraid may happen with each thought.